


Broken Pack

by PaigeTico



Series: xXFallenstarXx's BuckyNat Secret Santa gifts 2016 [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Animals, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-07
Updated: 2017-01-07
Packaged: 2018-09-15 10:22:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9230684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PaigeTico/pseuds/PaigeTico
Summary: James is a lone wolf, shunned by his pack when he fell in love with Natalia, a fox.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Whiskeyjack](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whiskeyjack/gifts).



> This isn't quite long enough but I ran out of time to post this, sorry

James opens his jaw to taste the air, and he notes the scent of elk, woven in amongst the fresh, damp aromas of the forest; pine, berries, leaf litter, much and more is hidden in the forest.

But he is not concerned with plants that he cannot eat. He and Natalia are alone, apart of any pack and therefore vulnerable and in desperate need of food.

Their love is a queer one, he knows, because it is unheard of for a wolf such as him to be so close to a fox like Natalia. Her kind is considered untrustworthy and fickle, and, well, this is true. Natalia lacks size and power, and so is used to using trickery and deception to get what she wants, but he loves her all the more for it, even if it costs him the companionship and support of his pack.

He can feel winter creeping in, digging its claws into his smoky gray fur. They will need all the food they can get their paws on to survive until the spring, as far off and alluringly distant as a dream.

But dreams cannot fill empty bellies, so he signals to Natalia with his tail and they split up, flanking the herd and, without needing to converse, pick an old, failing elk that is lagging behind the bulk of the herd for easy prey. Although its flesh will be tough and stringy, they won’t risk picking a sick or injured elk in case they carry disease, and killing the young ones means less food in seasons to come.

Natalia slips in amongst the herd, weaving her way through the thundering feet of the elk, her sleek russet fur fitting in amongst the browns and reds of the prey. She reaches the old one. Its fur is rough and unkempt, as if it is too tired to groom itself. She doesn’t run so much as glide, swiftly and gracefully, like fallen leaves dancing on a cool breeze. She darts between the long, bony legs of the old one, brushing right up against it, twists and slips around its back legs in a narrow figure eight, curling her tail around its limbs to unsettle it. The elk bucks and stumbles, and Natalia leaps away delicately.

James has been circling and watching behind the herd the whole time, this routine familiar to him by now. Just as Natalia makes her move he bunches up his back legs and jumps forward, racing the wind itself and just for a second, he can almost feel the pack running at his side. Steve at the front, James at his right side and Tony at the other, the rest flanking or tailing them. Wanda, Sam, Rhodes, Clint, Vision, Scott, T’Challa, and maybe Tony has turned a blind eye and the pup, Peter, has snuck out.

Sometimes, if they need the extra wolves, a few out of Sharon, Pepper, Jane, Maria, Phil and Daisy will join them. Not too many, though, because they need wolves defending the camp from badgers and humans and whatnot.

Just for a second, as the thrill of the chase is setting in, he can feel companionship and strength in numbers and trust because they’re a _pack_.

But the feeling is gone, faster than a heartbeat and it’s just James, James and Natalia, together on the hunt, their own broken little pack of sorts. He jumps onto the elks’ back, crouching low and holding his tail out to keep his balance while it bucks and rolls.

The claws of wolves cannot be retracted at will like those of cats, because for wolves, they are used for digging into the ground whilst running so as to grip it better, not to fight and hunt with. So they are blunt and rounded, and useless when making a kill.

Instead, James sinks his jaws into the back of its neck, tasting warm blood, and crushing down with his teeth through sinew and muscle until he hears its neck crack, and the beast falls to the ground. Natalia creeps up to inspect the kill, and nods to him. It's dead.

The rest of the herd has already moved on, sacrificing their elder to the predators. It's as it the old one was never a part of them, for all the attention they pay his body.

_That's just as well,_ thinks James, _for if we could not move on constantly we’d be stuck in the past_.

He spares no more thought for musings such as this, for the winter is long and harsh, and food is crucial.

Though the elk is too large for them to finish, they gorge themselves as best they can and leave the rest to the scavengers, or to be buried by the approaching snowfall. 

Side by side, they stalk off on shadowed paws, into the winter.


End file.
